


"I-"

by hannahhoppers



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 4x22, F/M, Ficlet, I Love You, the HUG
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 15:38:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7720342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahhoppers/pseuds/hannahhoppers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When she leaned her forehead against his, bumped their noses together, a smile made its way to his mouth. The little grin she wore on her lips tried to convey a lot of things. It was a thank you and an I’m sorry. It was her sending up a grateful prayer to whoever had brought this incredible human being to her. It was a little revelry in the fact that she had him. </p><p>	Most of all, it was an I love you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"I-"

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. So I've had this little thing bouncing around inside my skull for quite a while now. I had writer's block while working on another fic (which I hope to have done tonight or tomorrow), so I banged this out in an hour.
> 
> Also, I just wrote nearly a thousand words on a scene that's less than a minute and a half long. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
>  
> 
> I don't own the show or the characters, so I'm playing with them. Adam and Eddy have such nice toys. Unbeta'd. Kudos and comments if you enjoy!

There were no words for the flood of relief she felt when she looked up and saw him leaning against the railing, his hair messy like always and a teasing smile on his lips. He was _alive_. _He was okay_. And the next thing she knew she was bounding up the stairs like a little girl, and then their arms were wrapped around each other and they were finally able to be happy. His name was tumbling out of her mouth and she loved him _so much_ and thank God because he was alright. 

 

And then the force of her hug knocked them both onto the bed, and he laughed. She was giggling. Emma Swan didn’t giggle, but just for today, she could make an exception, because for the first time in her life, she had found somebody who she loved, and who loved her back, and was never _ever_ going to hurt her. She pulled herself up so they could breathe a little bit and knotted their hands together. She wasn’t ever letting go. 

 

“How many times do I have to tell you, love? I’m a survivor.” Goosebumps rose under her skin at the words, though, because until just a minute ago, he wasn’t a survivor, he was gone. But the incredible man who was holding onto her knew where her thoughts were going (open book) and he spoke again trying to wipe away the panic that was settling back into the front of her mind. 

 

“He’s fine, Henry’s fine, I just- I’m glad you are, too.” The adrenaline rush from finding him again was dying down again, though, so now she was remembering the look on his face when her father’s sword drove through him, and the sound he made when he hit the cobblestones, and how _real_ losing him felt- and how absolutely terrifying it was when she thought she had. She was drinking him in, her piercing eyed, smoldering pirate, because there was a chance she might lose him again and she had to hold on to what she could; the smile on his face and the feel of his rings and calluses against her palm, and the warmth he always gave off and the way he looked in his new leather jacket. 

 

“What is it?” She pulled them back up again because she needed to be able to see him completely when she told him what she was about to say.

 

“When I-” she hesitated, because saying it would make it feel real all over again, but she had some words to say and she’d be damned if he didn’t hear them come out of her mouth. “Watched you die, I was afraid I was never going to get to tell you something.”

 

“Tell me what?” And he knew, _he knew_ what she was about to say, this silly, ridiculous scoundrel of hers.

 

“I-” His eyebrow did that thing it does, (she swore it acted of its own free will some times) and his pretty eyes were taking in hers, but for no reason at all, her gut twisted and somehow she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Saying it would solidify everything- she loved him, and he loved her. And love meant a future and change and complete vulnerability to somebody, and the last time that happened she got her heart broken. The last time that happened, she put up walls that didn’t come down for over a decade. They were still there, apparently, standing tall and blocking off her chance with this perfect person. “Want… to thank you, for sacrificing yourself.” 

 

His eyes were searching hers, confused, and she hated that she did this to him. His brows pulled in tight as if to comfort each other and the corners of his smile drooped. She pulled her lips tight for just a second, a quiet little apology. “Henry and I wouldn’t have succeeded without you,” she added, hoping her tone could tell him how sorry she was that she couldn’t say those three words all strung together. 

 

“Of course, love.” A little nod. “It’s all in a day’s work for a hero.” His smile wilted just a little more, and she reached her hand around his head and smoothed it down towards his cheek, her thumb tugging a little at the corner of his lip in an effort to bring back that beautiful smile of his.

 

Those expressive eyes he had were shifted downwards. He was disappointed, and she figured he had every right to be. But he was so understanding. He understood her walls, worked around them and climbed over them and tried his hardest to dismantle them. He always let her set the pace for them, pushing her when she needed it, but always let her be in control (After so many years of not being in control of her life, she appreciated every second of it). 

 

And this man, this wonderful, wonderful man, he let her be her closed off self and loved her anyway. He traded his ship for her and chased her around New York City and waited for her when she was making bad decisions. And never did an _I told you so_ or a snap at her vagabond ways slip out of his mouth- he was never anything but supportive of her. Supportive, and protective, and patient, and a billion other things that she could fill a whole book with. 

 

When she leaned her forehead against his, bumped their noses together, a smile made its way to his mouth. The little grin she wore on her lips tried to convey a lot of things. It was a thank you and an I’m sorry. It was her sending up a grateful prayer to whoever had brought this incredible human being to her. It was a little revelry in the fact that she had him. 

 

Most of all, it was an I love you.


End file.
